


let it be me

by vtforpedro



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Actors, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety Disorder, Credence has The Anxiety™ please forgive him, Falling In Love, Filming a movie, Fluff and Humor, Gentle Sex, Good Gellert Grindelwald, Lack of Communication, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Credence Barebone, Romance, never thought id use that tag let me tell you what
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:20:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27785893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vtforpedro/pseuds/vtforpedro
Summary: In which Credence Barebone falls for his costar, Percy Graves, a man who gives him more than one second chance at happiness.
Relationships: Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	let it be me

Credence has been acting since he was fourteen years old. His mother, once he’d hit a six inch growth spurt, decided his face was good enough to try out for commercials or small roles.  
  
He knew it was because they needed the money and because it was the only thing she would ever find useful about him. He’d been used to her telling him how useless he was, in fact, for as long as he could remember. How he was only ever in the way, only ever a burden, and she left her marks on him in more than one way. She was a Godly woman in the beginning and insisted the Devil was in him for reasons Credence didn’t understand at the time.  
  
He has the scars to prove it and it’s in all of his contracts that he won’t have shirtless scenes and if he does, he must have his very specifically chosen makeup artist on set and no one is allowed to interrupt them while she does her work. Credence not only doesn’t want people to look at him with pity, to ask questions or show a burst of outrage on his behalf, but he also doesn’t need the knowledge of what he carries on his back to reach the general public.  
  
It turned out his mother was right about his face. They called him _delicate_ when he was a teenager and he did modeling for adolescents’ clothing for various large chain department stores. Credence only did a few commercials before he’d auditioned for a larger role in a movie and gotten it.  
  
His mother was there on set at all times and though she rarely interfered, too worried about not getting his paycheck, he knew she wasn’t there to watch over him, to protect him. She was there to monitor his behavior and correct it, if she’d found a way he might have ruined it all for her.  
  
By the time Credence was sixteen, he’d been looking into getting emancipated but he was becoming a name some people knew and the idea of having his life thrust into the spotlight and being given attention solely for that made him stick it out.  
  
When he left at eighteen, with no money at all to his name because his mother spent it all, he’d gotten an apartment with an actor only a couple years older than him, one of his friends, and started to make his life his own.  
  
That was ten years ago and sometimes Credence is taken aback by how quickly it’s gone by. A lot of indie roles in the beginning and more popular roles that required longer shoots later on kept him busy. There’s something about his face now that doesn’t make anyone call him _delicate_ but rather _masculine_ or _unique_ these days, and he avoids being typecast as the brooding outcast or as a romantic lead.  
  
He’s done a lot of interesting movies, futuristic blockbusters and dark comedies, movies set in the Middle Ages or modern dramas, modern thrillers that rely on the audience having to think rather than only being frightened. He enjoys these types of roles and he enjoys the lifestyle too, the luxury he can have, though he lives quite minimally.  
  
But he can eat what he wants, go where he wants, have whatever friends he wants. He can make his home his own and he can say _yes_ and _no_ and mean them without influence.  
  
His life before he’d been able to break free still does influence him in some ways. He’s often shy and quiet when he’s not around people he knows and despises parties, especially Hollywood parties. Press interviews he’s gotten used to and for whatever reason people like the way he interviews, which confuses him because he’s mostly sitting there trying not to sweat or panic too noticeably.  
  
He’s made friends, fantastic friends, people who care about him and love him, who protect him fiercely if they feel they need to and he never thought he’d have anyone like that in his life. Credence is immensely grateful for what his career has done for him, knows he is one of the lucky few to break away from an abusive household and not spiral afterward, and there are of course things he doesn’t like about it, but all the things he does like far outweigh them.  
  
Credence has met many people he looked up to when he was younger, has worked with quite a few of them by now, and he learns something new from all of them.  
  
When he’s got a list of movies like he now does, Credence doesn’t have to take roles anymore simply for the money. It’s always a bonus if it’s a role he likes and is paid exorbitantly well for it, but he’s still frugal. He’s got two small homes, a highrise apartment in New York that he adores because he was born and raised in Manhattan, and a smaller home in the hills of Los Angeles for when he’s on the west coast for an extended period of time.  
  
His bank accounts have more numbers in them than he thought he’d ever see but eighteen years of not being able to spend any of it still has him a little terrified to spend a lot, especially on frivolous things. He doesn’t shop at high end places, he wears clothes that are comfortable and affordable when he’s out, and he buys furniture he genuinely loves rather than to fit an aesthetic that’s currently popular.  
  
Credence does spend a lot of money on takeout but he also spent most of his life cooking for his mother and he’s still sick of it, so he doesn’t worry too much about it.  
  
He does have a soft spot for high end technology, phones and computers and televisions but that’s about it.  
  
Credence is in New York currently, always happy to shoot a movie here for various reasons, and it might be one of his best. The director - who also wrote the script - he’s working with handpicked him for the role and Credence could hardly say no.  
  
It’s a drama with a stellar cast and Credence finds himself lucky to be one of them. It’s set in 1930s New York City and revolves around the corruption in law enforcement and the divide it put between them and law-abiding officers, the various mafia families who owned the city back then, while juggling the end of prohibition and the Great Depression, which saw all of these things coming to a head.  
  
Simply for the director and the cast, Credence knows it’ll be one of the best of the year, let alone his own personal best. He especially enjoys his role, a young but world-weary detective caught in the middle of law and crime, influenced by both sides, and he gets to work off of two incredibly talented actors for it.  
  
Gellert Grindelwald is an actor known for his versatility, his method-acting, mostly menacing victims of all sorts that he disappears into, and people see his films simply because he’s in them. He’s also a bit of a bastard, which everyone in the world knows, but his cantankerous and off-putting attitude in the general public aren’t enough for people to dislike him.  
  
Credence can see why he’s that way just from rumors about his own childhood, too eerily similar to Credence’s. Credence came out of it soft-hearted and he thinks Gellert came out of it made of steel and can’t fault him for that.  
  
Percival Graves is the other top-billed name in the movie. He’s as known as Gellert, as loved and admired, and his versatility tends to be balanced between villains and heroes or anti-heroes and Credence… well, Credence has dreamed of working with him, so he’s still a little starstruck by him.  
  
He’s a kinder presence in Hollywood, his interviews popular because of his easy-going attitude and sarcasm, of his willingness to not give a shit about what he says regarding Hollywood and _not sucking corporate dick,_ as he’s said more than once, but that won’t stop them from hiring him either. He’s simply too good, too popular, too in demand.  
  
They’re a month into shooting the film after a month and a half of preparing for it and Credence is on very good terms with Percy, but he’s still shocked whenever he says _Credence._ He’s only nine years older than him but Credence got to watch him take the same path Credence is currently taking and his roles are becoming more mature these days, but he still takes his shirt off in a lot of them.  
  
Credence doesn’t think about that when he’s looking the man in the eye though. Or, at least, he tries not to. Desperately.  
  
Gellert tends to disappear after a scene if they’re on a lot so he can be in his trailer, but Credence has so many scenes with both of them, and acting off of them is one of the best and rewarding things Credence has ever felt.  
  
Sometimes, though, Credence wishes Percy would be more distracted when their director calls cut.  
  
“Cut! Right there, gentlemen, wonderful,” Newt Scamander says from behind the camera.  
  
“Fucking brilliant,” Percy says and claps Credence on the shoulder. “Every time. He’s fucking brilliant, isn’t he?”  
  
Credence sighs, his cheeks warm and thank the lord for makeup, but he is steadily getting used to Percy doing this every single time Newt calls cut and the general applause and praise and grins it gets from everyone behind the camera.  
  
“You say brilliant now,” Credence says. “While forgetting I mumbled my way through my first week.”  
  
“We don’t talk about those days,” Percy says with a smirk. “A breath of fresh air, Credence, that’s what you are."  
  
Credence groans and waves his hand, walking off the set and ignoring the various chuckles and giggles from the crew. “Is he fishing for compliments in return or should I just be flattered?” he asks one of their producers with a smile.  
  
“He doesn’t need to fish for them,” Leta says dryly. “You are just that brilliant, fantastic, spectacular… let’s see… can’t forget wonderful, breath of fresh air, that’s his favorite,” she says, flipping a page of the script. “Yesterday’s was _it’s always been in the eyes,_ that was new, said with that special fervor of his.”  
  
“Oh my God,” Credence says. “You’re writing them down?”  
  
“I think we all are. You do realize by the end of the year he’s going to be doing it in every interview you have together?”  
  
Credence sighs heavily. “Don’t remind me,” he says and walks over to grab a cold water bottle.  
  
“It’s all true,” Percy says loudly, still on set. “I have more adjectives prepared.”  
  
Credence laughs and shakes his head before a caterer wheels in lunch, a lot of croissant sandwiches, fruits and even more water. He gladly takes a sandwich and a lot of melon balls while the crew prepares for more shooting soon and sits down in his chair, looking at Percy when he joins him a few minutes later.  
  
“Stunning, that’s another one,” Percy says and takes a bite of his sandwich.  
  
“Stop embarrassing me,” Credence says, his cheeks hot, but definitely not from that embarrassment. “Ini is starting to greet me every morning in makeup as _Mister Brilliant_ and I don’t have it in me to tell her to stop when it’s still dark out.”  
  
Percy smirks and shrugs. “You know I mean every bit of it,” he says. “You want pizza later?”  
  
This is precisely the problem with working with Percy Graves, Credence thinks. They have gotten along so well, from the moment they met, and it’s only gotten better from there. They talk all the time when they’re on set together and text if they’re not and when their trailers aren’t far, they tend to spend any downtime together, eating and chatting and once Credence fell asleep on Percy’s shoulder, but he doesn't speak about that.  
  
He’s still starstruck half the time and it’s hard to believe any of it is real.  
  
Credence is entirely sure Percy is flirting with him half the time they’re alone too, which makes it even worse. He would be completely sure if it was anyone else but he’s still taken aback when Percy seeks him out, so he tries to convince himself it’s just what he wants to see and hear.  
  
The fact that Percy is not known for his love life in the way Credence is not known for his love life gives him some bit of hope. Long-term bachelors in Hollywood can mean an extremely private individual who might actually have been married for ten years and no one knows about it, someone who prefers to sleep around and not form attachments, someone whose partner does not want anything to do with the limelight, or… well, often, they’re gay and not out.  
  
There have been rumors swirling about Percy for twenty years and Credence knows he’s been seen with women before but not in a long-term sense and often if someone teases him about a wild night out when he was younger and the woman he spent it with, he says they met that night and managed to never speak again.  
  
Credence doesn’t know if that means he slept with them or simply found someone whose company he enjoyed for a night of drinking. Percy doesn’t talk about his private life, not like that, while other actors are very blasé when speaking about their partners.  
  
But Credence can’t blame him for it. He’s gay and the idea of anyone knowing is terrifying. Rumors swirl about him too, but he is often surrounded by women because he simply gets along better with them and they’re his best friends. The speculation about it all scares him too.  
  
He sees a therapist now and then and they work on the internalized shame his mother beat into him for eighteen damn years about his very personhood. Including being gay, which he used to grapple with, because he never told her but she just knew. He doesn’t really grapple with it, not anymore, but the idea of being _out_ is paralyzing sometimes, because he fears losing work, fears losing what he’s built for himself, fears losing friends who don’t know.  
  
Credence is proud of who he is now, proud of being gay, and he wants to be out, wants to say it often, but he’s got people that tell him not to be spontaneous. They’ve told him how he can do it that’ll cause the least amount of damage but the fact that it would cause any damage at all scares the shit out of him.  
  
He’s watched his fellow actors and actresses come out and not lose any roles, just bigoted fans that don’t matter, but he keeps convincing himself he’d be different somehow. That no one would give him support the way they’ve given everyone else support.  
  
His therapist is working with him on that still.  
  
Credence knows damn well watching his favorite actors come out when he was a teenager had helped him realize he wasn’t so alone, that he wasn’t abnormal, and had helped give him the courage to leave the day he turned eighteen.  
  
If he could help one person like that, he wants to, and he feels ashamed for not being able to let go of his own fears, but his therapist reminds him often he doesn’t owe anyone anything, especially if it puts his own mental health at risk and also to stop visiting Twitter.  
  
He’s twenty-eight, she keeps telling him, not eighty-two, and time heals all. And when healing has taken place, courage and strength tend to be easier to find along the way.  
  
Credence nearly tells Percy a few times but he keeps telling himself Percy isn’t flirting with him, that his gaze doesn’t linger and he doesn’t smile in a way he doesn’t smile with anyone else when they’re alone, and scares himself all over again.  
  
It’s amazing he’s gotten this far with the mess of insecurities and anxieties he is. He’s only glad it doesn’t bleed over into his work except very occasionally and just about everyone is supportive of him when it does.  
  
Percy was one of them, when a scene involving a lot of tears, fear and anger was getting the best of him before they’d even started filming.  
  
 _You’re the best one in the room, Credence, so keep commanding it like you always do._  
  
It had helped in the moment but he was awake for half the night when they were done for the day and agonizing about if Percy meant it or not, would say it to anyone struggling, or if the look in his eyes had been saying even more.  
  
Sometimes Credence wants to go back a couple months or so, to when they’d first shaken hands, and tell himself he needed to keep a certain distance. Now everyone on set knows that the question of _where’s Percy_ can often be answered _with Credence_ and vice versa. And he wouldn’t have to see the way Percy looks at him, smiles at him, and he wouldn’t have to think about the way Percy makes him laugh.  
  
They’ve got another month and a half to go and Credence isn’t entirely sure they’ll make it to the end of shooting without something terrible happening.  
  
Credence blinks a few times when he catches Percy staring at him, his eyebrows raised. “Huh? Oh,” he says and sits up, trying not to let the melon balls roll off his plate. “Pizza, sure. How do you stay in shape with the amount of pizza you eat?”  
  
“By living in the gym between shoots,” Percy says with a smile. “Or jogging a lot, that always helps. Nothing ever sticks to you, it seems.”  
  
“Can’t wait for the day that stops,” Credence says and smiles when Percy chuckles. “My apartment complex’s gym is nice because no one gives me the time of day when I’m using the treadmill.”  
  
“God bless New York,” Percy says with a wry smile. “We’ve got to eat the whole thing tonight.”  
  
Credence takes a bite of his sandwich and smiles, just a little. They’ll be in different locations for a week and a half and Credence isn’t looking forward to it. They’ve only had one week away from each other since they first met and it wasn’t terrible then. Now he thinks he’ll be obsessively checking his phone for a while and texting Queenie about what a loser he is.  
  
It doesn’t help when she agrees and says _it’s cute though._  
  
“If I feel like shit in the morning then it’s your fault,” Credence says as he eats a piece of honeydew. “You’re the worst type of morning person, you know.”  
  
Percy laughs. “Because I save being an asshole for the evenings?”  
  
“I’m okay with evening you,” Credence says. “Morning you is awful. You drink one coffee and don’t slow down until three and drink another one and don’t slow down until nine.”  
  
“That one coffee has four shots of espresso in it, you know.”  
  
Credence gapes at him. “And then you drink a huge glass of whiskey every night. You’re going to have a heart attack one of these days.”  
  
“I thrive this way, Credence,” Percy says and shakes his finger. “You, on the other hand, are the moodiest morning person I’ve ever come across.”  
  
“I was made to believe this was a fun job and then my first long shoot I had to be in makeup by five in the morning.”  
  
Percy smirks. “Just wait for the day it’s two in the morning because it takes six hours to get everything done.”  
  
“I’m just never going to take a role with that much prosthetics.”  
  
“Never say never,” Percy sighs and eats a piece of cantaloupe.  
  
Credence always has honeydew and Percy always has cantaloupe and it doesn’t mean anything at all except when Percy brings him a plate of honeydew and Credence agonizes in his trailer about it for a half hour before he’s able to sleep.  
  
He’s going to come out of this with more complexes than he already has.  
  
His therapist is going to be thrilled.  
  
“You’re going to be home for a few months, right?” Credence asks as casually as he can, but he’s asked about four times already and the way that Percy smiles, just a little, makes him wish he hadn’t asked at all.  
  
“I am,” he says. “London in November. It’s always good to be home for a while. We’ll have to do something after this.”  
  
Credence is also going to be home for a while and Percy’s known that since he told him four times ago. “Does it involve a lot of pizza?”  
  
“And whiskey,” Percy says and winks at Credence. “Or whatever it is you call alcohol.”  
  
“They’re called cocktails,” Credence says. “And I’m very good at making them. You probably enjoy a New York Sour whenever you’re not drinking straight whiskey.”  
  
“I’ve had that exactly once and I don’t remember if I enjoyed it or not,” Percy says wryly. “It has lemon in it, doesn’t it?”  
  
“Mhmm,” Credence hums as he eats more honeydew. “Your favorite. Sweet and tart.”  
  
“I do very much enjoy sweet and tart things,” Percy says and looks at Credence with a smirk. “Make me one of those when we’re off.”  
  
“It has egg whites in it too.”  
  
“Alright, definitely don’t make me one those,” Percy says and tosses his plate into the trash beside his chair. “Back to it.” He stands and points at Credence. “Pizza?”  
  
Credence smiles. “Pizza,” he says and watches Percy walk off, off to shoot his own scene now that Credence’s part in it is done.  
  
He watches him, watches all of it, and still finds it hard to believe that his life has taken this sort of turn. That he’s on movie sets with huge names, huge names that want to eat pizza with him and listen to him complain endlessly about a variety of different things because it makes those big names laugh.  
  
Credence just hopes he doesn’t fall asleep on Percy’s shoulder again, but he has been up since six and they’ve got eight more hours to go. He eats the rest of his lunch and smiles as he watches Percy act and tries to think of him only as a friend.  
  
If he can convince himself of it, he might come out of this without having hurt himself.  
  
The rest of the day goes by smoothly, if a bit longer than most of them would like, but they’re about three days behind schedule and Newt is hardly a stickler for the schedule but it’s getting hotter out over the next week and they have scenes to film on location soon. Heat and humidity tends to make everyone a little irritable, makeup especially, but Credence has filmed in much worse conditions - they all have, really - but some people are more vocal about it.  
  
He eyes Gellert’s trailer as he walks to his own and walks up the steps inside. He takes a shower, always a priority at the end of a long day, and is pulling on his shirt when there’s a knock on his door.  
  
Credence opens it and raises his eyebrows when he sees Percy and a very large box of pizza with two small bags on top of it. “You said we had to eat it all tonight,” he says. “Why’d you get the extra extra large?”  
  
“Because,” Percy says with a frown, “I am doing a lot of running in the next few days. Do you mind getting out of the way so I can work this fucking thing inside?”  
  
Credence laughs and grabs the bags on top of the box and steps out of the way, moving to the table and glancing inside them. “Cheesecake,” he sighs. “I haven’t had cheesecake in three months.”  
  
“You’ve told me about fifty times,” Percy says as he walks inside and closes the door behind himself. He sets the box down on the table and sighs, slumping into the cushioned bench. “If their cheesecake is anything like their pizza, it should be good.”  
  
“Thank you,” Credence says with a smile and sits down on the other side, leaning against the back so he can put his feet up on the long side and they don’t have to knock knees under the small table. “Oh, that looks perfect.”  
  
Percy smiles as he opens the box, revealing perfectly thin slices with a lot of cheese, pepperoni and black olives. “It does, doesn’t it,” he sighs as he looks at Credence. “Something else looks good too.”  
  
Credence blinks once, then twice, his heart skipping a beat. He realizes with a start Percy is smirking at his hair and wrinkles his nose, brushing the damp strands away from his forehead. He really isn’t going to make it out of this alive, he thinks, and curses Percy a little for always teasing him and getting his hopes up.  
  
“You barely gave me enough time to get out of the shower,” Credence says instead and smiles as he grabs a slice of pizza and takes a bite.  
  
“Hey, I meant it, it looked good,” Percy says. “Very devil may care compared to what you look like out there. The pomade with the side part is a good look on you too. You’d fit right in the early 20th century.”  
  
Credence rolls his eyes and takes another bite of pizza. “You would too. You’d be one of those rich, snobbish bankers with the hat and the briefcase and your own automobile with a driver,” he says through a mouthful. “Working in your big office and terrorizing your employees.”  
  
Percy shakes his head. “I am very glad you think of me in such flattering ways. It’s especially attractive with half macerated pizza in your mouth,” he says dryly. “I see myself as the debonair rogue detective.”  
  
“You mean you’re living out your fantasy on set each day?”  
  
“Close to it,” Percy says with a smirk. “Tommy gun shootouts and all.”  
  
Credence smiles in amusement and takes another bite of his pizza, watching Percy do the same and pull out his phone. He’s always texting someone and Credence supposes he is too but he likes watching Percy do it because his eyebrows always come together in a frown, even when it’s good news.  
  
He hates the little things he’s noticed about Percy. The way he grimaces whenever sushi is brought in by the caterers or how he taps his lip when he’s reading the script in between takes. The way he licks his lips after his first drink of whiskey in the evening, like he’s savoring every bit of it, even if it’s the first sip.  
  
That one might make Credence a little hot under his collar and he’s glad Percy doesn’t bring his whiskey over very often.  
  
“Jacob wants to get drinks in two weeks,” Percy says and gives Credence a wry look. “When we’ve got the three day weekend. For recovery, I’m sure.”  
  
Credence smiles and nods. “Sounds good to me,” he says. “Maybe dinner too. The last time we only got drinks I ended up in here and still have no idea how.”  
  
“As long as it was here,” Percy says. “I’m not entirely sure either. I went drinking with a couple friends in my early twenties and one of them decided they’d find their own way home. Found them eight miles away from it wandering an empty lot by the highway.”  
  
“Oh my God,” Credence laughs. “They could have died.”  
  
“Arguing with a private property sign, so you might be right.”  
  
“Was the friend actually you?”  
  
“I hold my liquor much better than that, thanks,” Percy says. “He was very fortunate he didn’t get robbed, at least. But we knew better than to let him wander off again.”  
  
Credence sighs and shakes his head. “At least we have Gus.”  
  
Percy points at him. “At least we have Gus.”  
  
Gus is their driver, always stone cold sober, but also their babysitter when they go out drinking and Credence is sure it’s not exactly fun, but that’s why they always leave through the back door and make sure he’s paid well.  
  
Jacob is fun to drink with anyway and has a lot of stories about New York that differ from their own, having grown up in Brooklyn while Credence was in Manhattan and Percy was all over the state.  
  
They chat and eat most of the pizza, but Credence saves room for cheesecake and he’s glad he did, because it’s divine. He doesn’t know if that’s because it’s been a while or because it’s brûléed with raspberry sauce on the side to drizzle on it (or dunk bites into like Percy does) but Credence is happy Percy got it anyway.  
  
Because Credence has been complaining about it and Percy tends to give Credence things he says he wants or mentions in passing and Credence tries not to think about it.  
  
He’d talked about swimming with sea turtles when he’d been in Hawaii for a shoot and how he’d like to do it again some time soon and Percy gave him a sea turtle plush to keep him company until he gets to.  
  
Credence agonized about that for about half a night and it’s on his bed, but he keeps the door shut so Percy doesn’t see. He’s not even sure where Percy got it and it’s one of those things that Credence thinks might be obvious flirting and affection but he tries to tell himself they aren’t.  
  
He wants to maintain their friendship and not ruin it by assuming it’s anything more.  
  
When they laugh about something later and Percy’s hand is on Credence’s ankle, he thinks he might just follow it by bursting into tears.  
  
He wants to ask Percy to stop casually touching him. His hand on the nape of Credence’s neck or touching his elbow when he passes him or the way he knocks his knee against Credence’s when they’re sitting together and he’s teasing Percy about being a snob on set.  
  
Credence has told Queenie all of these things and she tells him to kiss him already, but Credence rambles about all the reasons that’s a bad idea and she never tries to push him into it, but she tells him he’s going to break his own heart one of these days if he doesn’t try. It never helps, of course, more makes him want to cry in the shower, but he’s managed for over two months, so he’ll keep managing.  
  
It’s not like he’s never had a crush on someone he’s worked with. He has, a good handful of times, and sometimes it moves into more than a crush, but it always gets ruined in some way or another. Credence’s paralyzing fear of being outed or time commitment issues or the way some people in the business don’t care about a partner or spouse waiting at home for them. Credence had nearly been the _other man_ with someone he was attracted to and flirting with and if someone on set hadn’t mentioned his boyfriend, he would have been.  
  
That one had ended in a lot of anger on his part, so he tries to stay away from on set romances.  
  
He’s just not sure how in the hell he’s supposed to find anyone he might actually find happiness with outside of it.  
  
Queenie offers help but he never takes it.  
  
Another thing he’s working through with his therapist.  
  
“Hmm?” Credence hums when he realizes Percy has said something and is looking at him like he’s expecting an answer.  
  
Percy chuckles and his smile is fond. “I said you’re falling asleep,” he says. “We could both use it. I’ll get rid of this.” He pats Credence’s ankle and gets up, tossing the cheesecake cartons into the pizza box. “I’ll see you in a week or two.”  
  
Credence watches him with a faint smile and nods. “Okay,” he says and bites his lip. He wants to ask Percy to stay. Not really for anything more than sleep, he is very tired, and what he would give to feel Percy’s arm around him. But he won’t ruin it, as good as it sounds right now. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have no one to tell me how brilliant I am after each take.”  
  
“I’ll get Leta to say it in my place. Leave her with a list,” Percy says and smiles when Credence laughs. “Get some sleep.” He squeezes Credence’s shoulder and walks to the door.  
  
Credence follows him and leans against it as Percy walks outside. “Good night, Percy,” he says with a smile.  
  
“Good night, Credence,” Percy says. “Be good.”  
  
“Never,” Credence sighs and watches Percy smile and wink before he’s off, off toward his trailer and getting ready for an early morning himself.  
  
Credence closes the door and turns off the lights and brushes his teeth before he gets into bed. He’s too tired to agonize about everything tonight and looks at the sea turtle for a while before he’s fast asleep.  
  
He’ll dream of Percy but he won’t remember it by morning.  
  
——  
  
The next week and a half does go by fairly slowly. Even with texting Percy on and off through the day and a lot of scenes that are focused on his character, he finds himself missing Percy behind the camera watching or offering to bring dinner to one of their trailers.  
  
He didn’t think he’d miss the way Percy praised him after each scene, but he sort of does. It doesn’t come out of Leta’s mouth right, considering she says it all very sarcastically and with a lot of pursed lips.  
  
Newt is wonderful to work with, he has been from the start, and he keeps Credence company now and then. A walk around the lot and talking about various things. He has a disarming way about him that makes Credence babble but Newt doesn’t seem to mind.  
  
He’s quiet and a little awkward himself but immensely good at what he does, adapting to just about anything, even the people he works with. He can read people better than most of them can, which means he brings out the best in all of them.  
  
Jacob is fun to talk to as well and they watch Netflix on Credence’s computer in breaks between scenes, but he’s not Percy.  
  
None of them are, as much as he likes everyone.  
  
The day that the second unit is due back is one that Credence doesn’t really have much to do and he spends most of his day in his trailer, watching Netflix and trying to eat well before Percy comes back and ruins his days of good nutrition.  
  
Credence doesn’t pay attention to the time, he doesn’t wander out to ask if they’re back yet, he merely keeps himself busy and tries to tell himself that none of their texts or the one late night phone call had been intimate.  
  
It had been and he’s not an idiot, but maybe if he pretends it wasn't, Percy won’t tempt him into more conversations like it. As much as he enjoys it, he’s starting to feel a little too much for Percy Graves and it scares him.  
  
It should scare Percy too, he thinks, but he doesn’t know how he looks at these sorts of things and that means they’re not on the same page, which makes it all worse.  
  
Around four, an hour or so before caterers will bring dinner in, there’s a knock on Credence’s door.  
  
His heart skips a beat and he bites his lip, squeezing his eyes shut and tries to remind himself of all the reasons he can’t make this more than friendship.  
  
Credence gets up and unlocks and opens his trailer door and bites his tongue as another reminder.  
  
Percy smiles, his own hair damp now from a shower, wearing a simple white shirt and sweatpants and Credence thinks he’s never looked so damn good.  
  
“Hey,” Credence says and steps aside. “How was it in Jersey?”  
  
Percy walks inside and sighs. “Oh, you know,” he says, “it was Jersey. Shooting wasn’t half bad though. Looks like you’ve had some downtime today.”  
  
“Mhmm,” Credence hums and sits on his sofa. “Catching up with some shows. Trying to stay out of Gellert’s way the last two days.”  
  
“You know how he is,” Percy says with a smirk as he sits down next to Credence, too close, always too close. “Water main breaking and breaking him out of character? I don’t know, I might be angry too.”  
  
Credence grins. “Hearing the Austrian in him come out was funny though,” he says and laughs when Percy does. “I suppose I might be testy if I had to have my hair dyed every three days on top of it too.”  
  
“I’d take the hair dye over a wig for three months myself,” Percy says through a yawn. “Fuck, I’m glad I have a day off tomorrow. What were you watching?”  
  
“Catching up on _Outlander,”_ Credence says and taps his computer to turn back on. It’s on a little table in front of the sofa so he doesn’t have to hold it and he prefers it over the small television in his trailer. “Jacob and I finally managed to get to season five.”  
  
Percy smiles. “You two love that one,” he says. “You want to catch up with ours?”  
  
Credence bites his lip to try and hide a smile and looks at his computer. _Ours._ Credence won’t think about that too much. “Definitely,” he says and finds _The Crown_ on Netflix, which Percy loves very much and got Credence into. “Do you want me to wake you up when you fall asleep?”  
  
“I don’t fall asleep when _The Crown_ is on,” Percy says. “But yes, if you wouldn’t mind.”  
  
Credence laughs and turns on the next episode they have waiting for them. He leans back against the sofa and pulls his feet onto it, facing away from Percy lest he get any more ideas about touching Credence’s ankles.  
  
Percy manages to make it even worse when he drapes his arm over the sofa behind Credence. Credence tries not to stiffen too noticeably and stares at his computer screen for a while, his heart thundering away.  
  
He thinks of the way Percy said _good night_ to him on the phone, just a few nights ago, with obvious affection, and how he’d gone to bed feeling better than he has in a while and hadn’t agonized over it. Convinced himself it was a bad idea again but he knows that Percy looks at him the same way because it’s so obvious these days.  
  
Credence knows it’s a bad idea. He does. That’s why he keeps pretending it isn’t happening. The worst idea in the world, probably, but he tentatively leans against Percy’s chest and Percy moves his arm across Credence’s shoulders like it’s the most natural thing in the world. The way his thumb brushes over Credence’s collar bone puts goosebumps on his skin because… well, it’s real, he supposes. Actually happening.  
  
He’s terrified to look at Percy, terrified to ruin it in some way, even though his mind is screaming at him to put a stop to it altogether.  
  
But he does look at Percy and Percy looks back at him, his eyes soft and an affectionate smile on his lips. He moves his hand up and gently pinches Credence’s chin and well, it’s all downhill from there.  
  
Credence leans in to kiss Percy and Percy meets him there and it’s tender, more tender than any other kiss Credence has experienced. He moves his hand to Percy’s cheek and then up through his hair, still lightly damp but immensely soft.  
  
They turn more toward each other and nearly knock over the table and computer, but Percy sets them further aside with an amused smile before he’s back to kissing Credence. Credence wraps his arms around Percy’s neck and the noise he makes when Percy opens to it more should embarrass him but Percy’s fingers tighten on his lower back and it’s good. Oh, it’s good.  
  
Percy tastes like coffee, of course he does, and he must be worn out for it to not have him walking around with so much energy he makes Credence tired just to watch him.  
  
Just one of those things Credence has noticed and loves about him.  
  
When they break apart and Credence licks his lips, tipping his head back to breathe, Percy’s lips are on his neck. It’s dizzying how good it feels, how right it feels, and Credence holds tightly onto him.  
  
“Percy,” he whines when Percy’s kisses become more open-mouthed with the occasional feeling of his tongue brushing over sensitive areas that make Credence shiver far too much. “Percy, hold on.”  
  
Percy pulls back and looks at Credence, his hair tangled in Credence’s fingers, and he is so incredibly handsome that Credence has a hard time meeting his eyes.  
  
“Too much?” Percy asks and it sounds like an apology.  
  
“No,” Credence says breathlessly. “But too much of a bad idea, I think.”  
  
Percy gazes at Credence for a while before he smiles faintly. “You’re probably right,” he says. “But it could be a good one, if either of us were a little more optimistic.”  
  
Credence smiles, unable to help it. “Hard for us both,” he says. “I want to… fuck, I want to,” he mutters. “I also don’t want a one and done thing.”  
  
“Who says that’s what it’d be?” Percy asks and kisses Credence’s temple, when he looks down and away. “Believe it or not, but I have a few important reasons to not sleep around, especially not with costars. I think we might share one or two of those reasons.”  
  
Credence looks at Percy and sees that he means it. Or, at least, he hopes with all he has that he means it. But it’s still a bad idea. A colossally stupid idea, but he pulls Percy close and kisses him again anyway.  
  
Percy is very good at kissing Credence tenderly but he’s also very good at kissing Credence passionately and Credence isn’t sure which one he likes more.  
  
He ends up on his back on the sofa and Percy’s weight feels good against him, their legs tangled together. Credence runs his fingers through Percy’s hair not only because he likes it but Percy seems to enjoy it just as much. His soft groan against Credence’s lips sends his thoughts straight to the gutter, but he manages to mumble in between kisses that he’s more comfortable taking it slow.  
  
Percy doesn’t seem to mind that at all and though they kiss for a while more, they do eventually stop. Percy gets up to move the sofa out into the bed it makes and lays down with Credence again, his back to Credence’s chest. He moves his leg between Percy’s and Percy holds his hand and Credence thinks it might be the best he’s felt in years.  
  
It’s not a surprise when Percy does fall asleep and Credence listens to his slow and steady breathing and smells his shampoo and tries to tell his brain to slow down too.  
  
They’ve only known each other for six weeks or so, not nearly long enough for him to be more than infatuated with Percy, no matter what his heart has to say about it. It’s racing even now, as he holds Percy and tries not to get choked up about him being comfortable enough to sleep like this with Credence.  
  
A fucking horrible idea, Credence just knows it, and he thinks it’ll break his heart eventually, but maybe he can enjoy it for a little while first. Just a little while and then he’ll tell Percy he doesn’t want to get his heart broken before he actually does.  
  
Credence wakes Percy up when he’s so hungry he can barely stand it anymore and Percy apologizes in such a sweet way it only makes Credence want to kiss him again.  
  
They eat dinner together and actually watch some Netflix and while they do kiss more, that’s all that happens and Percy leaves when it gets later. He gives Credence a long and lingering kiss before he does and Credence thinks about it later in bed, squeezing a sea turtle stuffed animal against his chest and grinning so much it hurts.  
  
——  
  
Credence thinks he floats through his next few days. He’s happy and he feels good, feels like this might not actually be such a bad idea. He gets to work with Percy and they never show anything in front of anyone, they’re too practiced with not allowing that to show, and they spend the same amount of time together that they already did.  
  
Only now it’s filled with a lot of kissing, a lot of holding each other, and a lot of talking about far more personal things.  
  
Struggling with not being out, which Percy smiles wryly at and says he knows a little bit about that too.  
  
They don’t sleep together, in any sense of the word, because staying the night in each other’s trailers would not only be obvious, but leaving to go get _personal effects_ might also be obvious.  
  
Credence wants to take this slow, he truly does, but it’s more difficult every time he’s being kissed soundly by Percy. Percy likes to touch him too, everywhere, and often kisses him wherever he touches him, like he’s trying to map out Credence’s body even if they’re mostly clothed at the time.  
  
He’s always whispering praise against Credence’s skin, the way he does when they’ve ended a scene but far more personal, and Credence was mostly used to the other way but this one makes him even more flustered.  
  
Handling praise has never been easy for him but hearing the things Percy says is far more intimate and Credence never knows if he should say thank you or try to offer praise back, both things seem impossible to get out as much as he wants to, but Percy doesn’t seem to mind.  
  
They go out for drinks with Jacob and have a good time, managing to get fairly drunk and not get handsy with each other, which Jacob would no doubt remember and ask about later.  
  
It goes on like this for a week before it all comes crashing down, the way Credence was starting to think it wouldn’t, and he knows it’s his own fault for having hope. For trusting someone, when he knows that just under three months of getting to know each other isn’t truly so long.  
  
The friends he’s made took much longer for him to trust, let alone be open with, and now Percy knows Credence on an intimate level and he manages to hurt him in the exact way Credence had told him he feared one night.  
  
It starts about halfway through a day of shooting. Percy had gone off into the city for a while and Credence films some of his scenes. Some of the last scenes on the lot before they have more on location shoots in the next couple of weeks.  
  
Credence hardly has time to ask where Percy went because he’s working with Gellert and that means no-nonsense when he’s in a mood. Even if he squeezes Credence’s shoulders after a take and nods at him, like he’s done very well but Gellert wouldn’t dream of actually saying it.  
  
It makes Credence and Leta, their producer, fall into a fit of giggles each time, but Credence will take it either way.  
  
He has to use the restroom and attempt to not get any speck of water on his suit in the meantime before they come at him with blowdryers and by the time he’s walking back onto set, he sees Percy.  
  
It’s a special sort of way that his heart leaps in excitement, something he’s never felt before. He’s halfway across the set to meet him when he stops abruptly behind Newt’s chair as he flips through the script.  
  
Percy holds his hand out and a woman that had been standing off to the side that Credence hadn’t noticed walks forward and takes it. She’s pretty, only a few inches shorter than Percy, raven black hair that falls past her ribs. She shakes hands with a few of the crew and Percy’s arm is around her shoulders after, the way he puts his arm around Credence’s shoulder.  
  
He kisses her temple, the same way he kisses Credence’s temple.  
  
“Do you… do you know who that is?” Credence asks, trying not to jump to conclusions, even if he feels immensely sick suddenly.  
  
“Hmm? Who?” Newt asks and looks up at where Credence is pointing. “With Percy? Haven’t got a clue.”  
  
He turns back to the script and Credence’s lunch feels like it’s going to make a reappearance. “I’m so sorry, Newt, I think I’m going to vomit,” he mutters, because it’s about the only way he thinks he’ll escape.  
  
“Goodness, you are very pale,” Newt says with a frown as he looks up at Credence. “Vomit, if you’ll feel better. Text me if you don’t and we’ll do 328 and 329 before finishing 327.”  
  
“Thank you,” Credence says breathlessly and hurries back toward the bathroom. He doesn’t vomit, but the door to the back lot is near there and he stumbles outside.  
  
The heat of the day only makes him feel worse and Credence makes the long walk around the lot and to the trailers, getting to his and walking inside with a sigh of relief. He turns on the air conditioning and avoids the sofa Percy so often leaves him breathless on and walks into his bedroom. He collapses on the bed and shoves the sea turtle aside.  
  
Percy said that he had a few important reasons to not sleep around, especially not with costars. Credence knows he doesn’t have children but he never thought to ask him if he had a fucking girlfriend or wife that he tells no one about.  
  
He’s not handsy with anyone but Credence and she had looked so happy to be at his side. Newt didn’t even know who she was, which Credence thinks says volumes about how far Percy has gone to keep her out of the limelight.  
  
Credence has been to a few parties, unfortunately, where he meets spouses of colleagues he never knew existed and they’ve been in the business twenty years.  
  
Those that have children don’t get away with it so easily and Credence tries not to think about that.  
  
Percy’s been evasive about his personal life, Credence realizes. They’ve gotten to know each other, yes, intimately so, but his personal relationships he’s shied away from. Friendships to previous relationships to family. Credence knows his father was about on the same level as Credence’s mother, but he doesn’t know anymore than that.  
  
They spend more time kissing than they do talking, and that would be okay for a while, but everything is starting to make sense to Credence in the way that Percy has avoided much of his personal life.  
  
He even says that when they’re done shooting, he’ll come over to Credence’s place. It’s always to Credence’s place, never an offer to go to his, and it makes Credence unbelievably angry.  
  
It also makes him feel like an unbelievably stupid and naive person, who avoided these things for this exact reason. He’s already come too close to being _the other man._  
  
He texts Newt that he’s stuck in the bathroom for today and Newt says it’s fine, rearranging the scenes for today and tomorrow, and with some bitter satisfaction, Credence realizes he won’t be filming with Percy tomorrow.  
  
Credence isn’t sure how he’s even going to look at him and not feel the urge to punch him or simply burst into tears. But he’s a professional, has been doing this for half his life, and he’ll put distance between them. Percy will understand why and hopefully feel like an asshole when Credence stops speaking to him, but Credence thinks he deserves it.  
  
He gets a few knocks on his door throughout the day, but Credence either shouts that he’s not well or - in Percy’s case - ignores him entirely.  
  
The day moves at a painfully slow pace and he’s glad he has cereal and milk to scrounge up for dinner, before it gets dark. When it does, he turns off his lights and gets into bed with his laptop, turning down the brightness so everyone will hopefully think he’s gone to bed early. He ignores every text Percy sends him and the phone call too.  
  
Credence debates on it for a while before he grabs his phone and sends Queenie a text instead.  
  
 _Turns out he’s a fucking asshole._ _  
__  
__Oh no, honey. What’d he do?_ _  
__  
__He’s a liar. I shouldn’t have let him kiss me. I feel like an idiot._ _  
__  
__I’m so sorry honey. Let me know if you want me to come by and take care of him for you._ _  
_  
Credence smiles a little and sniffs.  
  
 _You can set me up with someone in a few months instead._ _  
__  
__Got a whole bunch in mind honey. Don’t let him ruin the rest of the shoot for you._ _  
__  
__Never._  
  
Credence puts his phone aside and watches Netflix, some mildly dark comedy, but he doesn’t see much of it. He can’t get the picture of Percy kissing her forehead the exact way he kisses Credence’s forehead and thinks he’s going to have a difficult time with that for a while yet.  
  
——  
  
The first day is relatively easy, mostly because Percy isn’t on the lot, and Credence focuses on work instead of his shitty personal life.  
  
He did that for a long time so he’s well versed in it.  
  
He does manage to ask Newt if he’d found out who the woman with Percy was and when he says _Mrs. Graves, I believe,_ Credence is tempted to fake being sick again.  
  
Credence doesn’t ask anyone else.  
  
The next two days of shooting are harder considering Percy is on the set both days but Credence is fairly good at avoiding him. He doesn’t sit in his chair and he hides across from their lot in their active corner of a props warehouse to eat his meals and glance at the script now and then.  
  
A few people tell him Percy’s looking for him throughout the day and he thanks them but the last thing he’s going to do is let Percy corner him.  
  
When they have a scene together, Credence gets there a few minutes before filming and Percy does approach him then and the concern in his eyes makes Credence feel ill.  
  
“Been looking all over for you,” Percy says. “Are you alright?”  
  
“Fine,” Credence says stiffly. “I didn’t feel well. Recovering a little, away from the lights and people.”  
  
Percy’s hand on his back is the last thing he wants to feel so he steps away and in front of the camera, holding his script and letting makeup come to do touch ups. He doesn’t look at Percy, not until they’re ready to shoot, and Credence finds that the frustration and fear in their scene he’s easily able to tap into.  
  
He had worried that it would be difficult to act across Percy, but he does and he does it damn well. He knows that as soon as Newt says cut after their fourth take, the best one, and Percy smiles, praise will follow, so he walks off set before it can. He can’t listen to Percy say he’s stunning when he knows how he sounds saying the same thing with his lips on Credence’s neck and his hand under his shirt.  
  
Credence is angry at Percy, but more angry at himself. He told himself it was a bad idea for so many weeks, didn’t let himself lean into the flirting until he started having a little hope. Having a little hope tends to get Credence into trouble, which is why he doesn’t hope for anything anymore.  
  
It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised in life that way, rather than bitterly disappointed, but he’d let Percy stroll in and make him forget that.  
  
Never again, Credence vows to himself and to Queenie both, who he has sent increasingly dramatic memes to, because it makes him feel a little better and the ones she sends back are just as good.  
  
Credence doesn’t see Mrs. Graves for five days and he’d been hoping she left and it was only a one or two day set visit, but he’s rudely reminded of her existence when he’s trying to pack lunch on a plate and flee before Percy can corner him, like he’s trying to do lately.  
  
“Credence?”  
  
He nearly loses his plate, but only manages to drop a wedge of cheddar cheese and save the rest of it. He looks to his left and sees her, right there, only a few feet away from him.  
  
She’s so pretty, Credence thinks with some despair. Raven dark hair and bright blue eyes, pale skin and wearing black, which makes her stand out all the more. Her smile is kind, of course it is, and Credence feels enormously guilty just looking at her.  
  
He’s never felt jealous of her, just angry at Percy, but now the guilt is settling in being in her presence because he _did_ become the other man, even if they thankfully hadn’t slept together. Eliza is obviously a woman but that just means Percy swings both ways.  
  
“Eliza Graves,” she says with a smile and holds out her hand. Credence manages to shake it firmly and not tremble while he does. “Percy’s been ranting and raving about you for the last two months. Most brilliant young man he’s seen since himself, I think his words were.”  
  
Credence blushes and tries to work past that nugget. “Oh,” he says. “He’s, uhh… well, he’s not humble,” he manages and she smirks and nods in wry agreement. “I’ve learned a lot from him.”  
  
“He’s made it seem like he’s learned a lot from you too,” Eliza says. “It’s nice to see him making friends now and then. He usually has good things to say about most people he works with but occasionally there are the few that put stars in his eyes.”  
  
Occasionally there’s a costar he cheats with, Credence thinks bitterly and stuffs a piece of cheese into his mouth.  
  
“I looked up to him for a long while,” Credence says. “We share a lot in common. Well, mostly,” he adds and sighs. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got about fifteen minutes to eat this before makeup accosts me and I’m in front of the camera.”  
  
Eliza laughs. “Of course, sorry to bother you. Just wanted to meet the man he’s very honored to work with,” she says. “I’m going to be here for a couple more days. Let’s have dinner, I’d love to get to know you a little more.”  
  
“Oh,” Credence says and blinks a few times. “Yeah, maybe. I’ll let Percy know later. It was good to meet you.”  
  
“You too, Credence. Really,” Eliza says and winks before she’s off.  
  
Credence groans and hurriedly leaves the set to go hide and eat his lunch. He tries not to think about it, but it feels like she winked at him in such a way that says she _knows._  
  
And if she knows, that is an entirely different can of worms he wants no part in. It disturbs him, actually, and Credence is starting to get the impression that he never really knew Percy all that well to begin with.  
  
It makes him sad, more than anything else, and Credence eats his lunch and tries not to cry about it. He’s so used to people hurting him and he needs to remember why he keeps up his defenses so often and not put himself in this position again.  
  
Thankfully he manages to avoid going to dinner with Eliza and Percy, texting Percy back when he asks about it that he already made plans with Jacob. He quickly calls Jacob to actually make those plans and Jacob is pretty happy to go along with just about everything, so they go out drinking that night.  
  
Jacob refers to Eliza as _the nicest lady_ when Credence asks about her and not much more than that, to Credence’s frustration and relief both.  
  
They get hammered but Gus is always there to save the day and Credence is thankful for the late start in the morning. Percy is off with the second unit filming at a different location for half the day and Credence eats lunch with his costars and the crew in peace.  
  
He films his scenes and though he has just under a month to go of this, he knows once he gets over this initial hurdle and maybe has a short, firm conversation with Percy, it’ll be over and done with.  
  
Finding the courage to have that conversation is difficult for him because he knows he’ll probably cry and he’s so sick of crying and would be happy if he never did it again. But Percy hurt him and maybe he deserves to see that he did. Or maybe Credence shouldn’t cry over him at all because Percy isn’t worth it.  
  
He doesn’t quite know what to do and complains to Queenie a lot throughout the day. She tells him to get it over and done with so he can move on, but he hasn’t told her Percy has cheated on him. Has he cheated on him? He’s cheated on Eliza, that’s obvious, but Credence doesn’t know if it’s the same with him.  
  
 _Semantics,_ Percy would say, and Credence gets so annoyed by hearing his voice in his head that when the man himself comes back on set, he goes to the restroom to take a breather and put on his professional persona. Especially because he has a difficult scene left to film today, one that’s probably going to take a few hours to get right.  
  
Credence is tempted to splash water on his face but that’d probably make about eight people scowl at him, so he merely uses the restroom, washes his hands and opens the door.  
  
He jumps so badly that he nearly slips on the concrete floor. “Shit,” Credence hisses as he grabs the doorframe and glares at Percy, who is leaning against it, his arms over his chest. “What the hell are you doing?”  
  
“Cornering you,” Percy says dryly. “Because that’s the only way I’m ever going to get you to talk to me again because you won’t open your fucking trailer door for me anymore.”  
  
Credence grinds his teeth for a moment before he shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk right now,” he says. “I should go, Newt’s been nervous about this one.”  
  
“Filming’s done for the day,” Percy says.  
  
Credence blinks at him. “What?” he asks. “Why?”  
  
“Newt decided to rewrite the scene. We’ll pick up tomorrow, he says he expects it to take him all night. Probably going to be even more grueling than it already was supposed to be and we might move location for it,” Percy sighs. “But you know his strokes of genius tend to come out this way.”  
  
“I do,” Credence says and isn’t sure if that’s fortunate or unfortunate right now. He can make excuses as much as he wants but Percy knows he damn well doesn’t have any other plans to get to. “I’m going to wardrobe then, I guess.”  
  
“I’m guessing you won’t say yes to pizza and Netflix after that?”  
  
“I won’t,” Credence says and he’s mortified there are tears prickling at the corners of his eyes but he bites his tongue and blinks them away.  
  
Percy sighs. “Are you going to ever tell me why or are you going to hide from me for the rest of the shoot?”  
  
Credence looks at Percy and his heart aches. He wanted him to be everything he seemed to be, but he’s just like everyone else and it hurts. It hurts especially because he can see the hurt in Percy’s eyes too and Credence has been trying to convince himself Percy never cared, but he knows that’s bullshit.  
  
But it’s Percy’s own fault. It’s Credence’s too.  
  
“You should have told me,” Credence says and walks by Percy.  
  
Percy lets him. “Told you _what,_ Credence?”  
  
Credence bites his lip and looks back at Percy and he thinks he might be more disappointed in him now than before. But he’s met men like this - men that don’t care, don’t think about consequences, and brush them off when they happen.  
  
He sighs, gently, and shakes his head. “Please stop knocking on my door,” he says and leaves the lot to go to wardrobe and get out of his clothes the proper way.  
  
Credence takes a shower when he gets to his trailer and sits on his sofa after, turning on Netflix and holds in his knees to his chest. Apathy is setting in, he thinks, and he supposes that’s a good thing.  
  
Better than crying about it all night and now he won’t toss and turn for half the night agonizing about everything anymore.  
  
Less than a month and Credence will be in his own bed, seeing his friends and enjoying a few months to himself. It’ll be like it never happened by the end of that, he knows, and he’s going to try and ignore it now so he continues to give his best because he’s been allowed the privilege to do so.  
  
——  
  
Last minute location changes are always a pain in the ass for everyone involved, especially if the city has to get involved and the studio, but Newt always makes magic happen and they’re filming before evening the next day.  
  
Credence gets through it. He gets through two more days of this, of not particularly hiding from Percy anymore, but not having to worry about him approaching Credence. He’s staying away and occasionally Credence glances at him and Percy is nothing if not professional, charming when he’s talking to everyone he likes, but sometimes he looks back at Credence and it feels like someone has squeezed his heart whenever he does.  
  
He misses Percy, even if he’s a bastard, and sometimes finds himself brooding with Gellert on set as they glance through the script to make sure Newt hasn’t changed a single word that he will absolutely insist upon on later.  
  
“It’s been a while, I admit, since I was your age,” Gellert says one day, nearly startling Credence out of his skin, because they always sit in silence. “I do believe I’m the veteran on this shoot.”  
  
Credence blinks a few times before he nods. “That’s true,” he says, because even Newt is nearly half his age. “Why do you say it?”  
  
Gellert looks over the script at him with such a dry look that Credence thinks no place is sacred anymore.  
  
“On set romances aren’t a good idea, generally speaking,” Gellert says, still using his 1930s New York accent but it only makes him more intimidating. “I had a few in my day. They can make or break shoots sometimes, depending on how… loud someone is about it. Others are quiet and most don’t notice. Two loud ones made me receptive to only the quiet ones. A surprise, I know,” he adds dryly. “My longest romance hit a nasty hurdle once.”  
  
Credence gapes at him for a while before he clears his throat. “Did it?” he asks and bites his lip. “What kind?”  
  
“Oh, the bloodoath betrayals and whatnot,” Gellert says, waving his hand dismissively. “Drastically changing values overnight,” he adds with some annoyance. “But we managed to repair the damage.”  
  
“I… don’t think the damage is going to be repaired,” Credence says slowly, his head spinning about drastically changing values somehow being repairable. “We didn’t make any bloodoaths.”  
  
Gellert smirks. “Maybe not,” he says. “But anyone with two eyes can see it meant something. Apparently I’m the only one with two eyes on this entire set.” He sighs and shakes his head, closing the script. “The passion is good to see, of course, when you’re filming together, but I must say there was something more intimate in it before it went to shit.”  
  
Credence blushes and he nearly groans and hides his face in his hands, but he won’t. It’s too late for that. “But the… there was no intimacy,” he manages and flushes when Gellert raises an eyebrow. “There wasn’t! Well, not really. I don’t know! Fuck,” he adds and drops his chin in his hand. “There’s no fixing this. DOA.”  
  
“Hmm,” Gellert hums. “Well, if that’s the case, maybe using your big boy words might help you get over it. Bring back the intimacy, even if there was no intimacy.”  
  
Credence is simultaneously offended and amused and he ends up laughing before he can help it. “Can we go back to long silences, please?”  
  
“My favorite kind,” Gellert says with a charming wink. “But think about what I said anyway.”  
  
“Fine,” Credence says and smiles as he looks down at his script. He points at page 384. _“That_ to _it.”_  
  
“Long silences, my boy.”  
  
Credence sighs and continues to flip through the script until Newt decides it’s time to get ready for their next scene.  
  
Once the day is finished, thankfully not very late, Credence gets dinner from the caterers and takes it to his trailer. He sits down on the sofa and opens his computer to watch Netflix. He hasn’t dared go back to _The Crown_ because he’s entirely sure that’s what’ll make him cry but he watches an old classic instead.  
  
He doesn’t feel better, per se, but he doesn’t feel any worse, so he supposes that’s an improvement.  
  
Credence feels okay enough to text Queenie anyway.  
  
 _Is it cheating on me AND the spouse when he cheats?_ _  
__  
__Is this hypothetical or is this what that man did?_  
  
Credence asked her to stop saying Percy because he couldn’t stomach looking at his name anymore.  
  
 _He decided not to tell me about his wife. Almost a week after making out with me and feeling me up and telling me all kinds of personal stuff about him and listening to me do the same. Except that he had a wife I mean._ _  
__  
__Credence honey, Percy isn’t married._  
  
Credence frowns at his phone for a while.  
  
 _Yes he is. His wife came on set. Mrs. Graves is what Newt called her. He kissed her on the head and held her like he does with me._ _  
__  
__Newt doesn’t pay attention to anything and you know it. He isn’t married. I promise. I worked with him on three movies and you know that too. Why didn’t you tell me!!!_  
  
Credence blinks a few times and furrows his brow as he stares down at her text.  
  
 _It was embarrassing? If he’s not married then who is Mrs. Graves and why is he kissing her?_ _  
__  
__On the HEAD apparently. Does she look like this?_ _  
_  
Credence sighs and wrinkles his nose as he waits. He groans when he sees the picture Queenie sends him and nearly tosses his phone aside because it’s the last thing he wants to see, but he is extremely confused by what Queenie means in the first place.  
  
It’s Percy on a red carpet, with that look in his eyes that says he’d like to strangle everyone taking pictures of him rather than smile, with his arm around the waist of Eliza and her hand on his shoulder. She’s pretty, of course, and there’s something proud about the way he’s holding her that only makes Credence feel worse.  
  
 _Yes, that’s Eliza Graves._ _  
__  
__If Newt tells you who someone is, double check with someone else before you do this to yourself again. Pick up the phone._  
  
Credence raises his eyebrows and hardly has a moment to be offended before Queenie’s calling him. He answers with a large amount of reluctance.  
  
“Hello?” he asks feebly. “Don’t yell at me.”  
  
Queenie laughs. “Oh, _honey,”_ she says and she sounds like she feels sorry for him, rather than being annoyed with him. “Oh, Credence, sugar, I love you, but I wish you’d mentioned it the night it happened. You’ve been runnin’ yourself in circles for days, haven’t you?”  
  
“More like a week or so,” Credence says and he’s starting to tremble from nerves. “What’d I do?”  
  
“Honey,” Queenie says very clearly. “Eliza Graves is Percy’s _sister._ His big sister, who he takes to premieres ‘cause he hates them and never has anyone else to take.”  
  
Credence blinks once, then twice. He stares at his laptop screen, not really seeing it, and it sounds like ocean waves are rushing through his ears. His heart is pounding hard enough to hurt and he nearly drops his phone because he’s shaking.  
  
He grabs the end of the sofa cushion. “His sister?” he asks weakly. “Why did no one fucking say that?”  
  
“Did you even give them a chance to, honey?”  
  
“I asked Newt and Jacob!”  
  
“Newt knows the film industry and has face blindness outside of it,” Queenie says dryly. “Jacob is oblivious half the time because he’s stuck in his own head thinking about how good everything is. Probably hasn’t even told you we’re serious.”  
  
“He has!” Credence says. “Just once, in passing. He probably expected you to tell me.” He rubs his hand over his sweaty forehead. “Queenie, are you serious?”  
  
“The one damn time you listen to your therapist and don’t google everyone and stalk their Twitter profiles,” Queenie sighs. “Yeah, honey, I’m serious. His sister. She’s an interior designer in Uptown and visits sets when he’s in the city. Nicest lady you’ll ever meet.”  
  
Credence groans, a little in agony, thinking of Jacob saying something similar. “Oh my God,” he whispers and puts his hand over his mouth for a moment. “Oh my God, Queenie.”  
  
“Mhmm,” Queenie hums. “I’m sorry, honey, but you jumped about a thousand conclusions ahead.”  
  
Credence moans and leans back, looking up at the ceiling. “Fuck,” he says. “Gellert told me to use my big boy words today.”  
  
Queenie snorts through her laughter. “Oh, that’s a good one, I’m gonna text Teenie that,” she says. “I’d probably be sayin’ the same thing. You know what you gotta do, right?”  
  
“Yes,” Credence croaks. “He’s going to tell me to fuck off.”  
  
“Sure he will,” Queenie says dryly. “As soon as he’s done crying about how relieved he is you’re back in his arms.”  
  
Credence blushes. “That’s… I doubt that’s going to happen,” he says. “I’m a fucking moron.”  
  
“You always think the worst of everything,” Queenie says, not ungently. “You’re probably gonna need to call Holly soon.”  
  
“She’s going to make me draw an egg again,” Credence says tiredly and can’t help his smile when Queenie giggles. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to look him in the eye, Queenie.”  
  
“I have a feeling he’ll help you out with that,” Queenie says. “Don’t hate yourself over this, honey. Just remember to ask questions next time.”  
  
“I thought I asked enough questions,” Credence sighs. “But you’re right. When do you think…?”  
  
“It’s only six, I’m sure he’s awake and runnin’ himself in circles just like you are.”  
  
Credence groans again and scrubs his hand over his face. “Fuck,” he whines. “He deserves someone that isn’t an idiot. Or a mess.”  
  
“Let him decide what he deserves and stop assuming! Go on, get off the phone and go find him. It’ll be alright.”  
  
“Okay,” Credence croaks. “If you say so. Thank you, Queenie. I’m sorry that I’m like this.”  
  
“Don’t say that, honey. You were lied to and betrayed for eighteen years. Maybe give yourself a little leniency, huh?”  
  
Credence supposes that’s true but it throws him a little to hear it said so plainly. “But he doesn’t—”  
  
“Uh uh. Let him make his own big boy decisions.”  
  
Credence sighs. “Alright. Thank you for telling me, Queenie.”  
  
“Course, honey. You know I love you,” she says. “Teenie loves you too. Go get your man.”  
  
Credence huffs a small laugh and smiles. “Love you both too,” he says. “I’ll try. Good night.”  
  
“Night night, sugar.”  
  
Credence hangs up and sets his phone aside and closes his laptop. He sits there for a while, feeling paralyzed by everything. By how terrified he was to make it _more_ with Percy, how good he felt when he did and how he’s been feeling since he ruined it for himself.  
  
If Percy forgives him, it’ll be a miracle. Credence is terrified to go to him because he is likely to be rejected and he wouldn’t blame Percy for it. He’s not sure he’ll recover from it for a decade or so, but Percy is owed an apology.  
  
He covers his face when he thinks about all of the unflattering things he’s been texting Queenie about him. It makes him want to cry or laugh or throw up, maybe, cursing Percy as _just like all of the others_ when he’d wanted to stay with Credence after the shoot was over.  
  
When Percy had taken a leap of faith and he’s the one who got burned, not Credence.  
  
Credence would call his therapist but it’s not such an emergency. And it really is only six, so he has enough time to apologize and possibly be told to go fuck himself and come back to his trailer to cry about it.  
  
But that’s jumping to conclusions and Credence has been bad at this for his entire life, but not in this way. He was right about it being a colossally stupid idea but only because _he_ was going to fuck it up and not Percy, not anything outside of them.  
  
Credence manages to get up and walk out of his trailer and back toward the lot. Percy isn’t there, just the crew cleaning up for the day, and Credence crosses the lot to their props warehouse. They’re putting away the more valuable things of the day and Credence approaches Toni, who can make some pretty incredible things for just about anything.  
  
“Hey, Cree,” she says with a smile. “You doing okay?”  
  
“Regretting my life choices,” Credence says and smiles when she chuckles. “Do you have any stuffed animals?”  
  
“Stuffed animals,” Toni repeats and raises an eyebrow at him as she puts one of the tommy gun replicas away. “I’m sure we do, but God knows where. Can’t remember the last time we needed one. Here, maybe over here.”  
  
Credence follows her, looking at props for their movie and other movies being shot on differeent lots, smiling at the various and seemingly random items. He loves looking at props, almost as much as sets, especially when it’s for a large epic with swords and shields, all made with love and care and painstaking precision.  
  
“Here,” Toni says and grabs two stuffed animals sitting on top of a box of toys. “We have… Mister Spider and Mister Frog.”  
  
Credence looks between them both and grimaces at the spider with red eyes. “The frog,” he says and takes it, looking down at it. “He’s cute, right?”  
  
“If you’re into frogs, sure,” Toni says with some amusement. “Do I want to know why you want him?”  
  
“Probably not. I can keep him?”  
  
“I think we can manage without him,” Toni laughs. “Take care, Cree, you look pale today.”  
  
Credence sighs. “Coming down with stupidity,” he says and smiles when she chuckles. “See you, Toni. Thank you.”  
  
“Night, Cree.”  
  
Credence leaves the warehouse and walks to the trailer lot. Slowly, but he’s flat out scared shitless about this, and trying to think of something adequate enough to say for the absolute doorknob he’s been lately.  
  
He does feel mildly ill when he walks to Percy’s trailer and sees the lights on. He was hoping maybe they wouldn’t be, but he can’t be more of an idiot than he’s already been, so he walks to the door and knocks.  
  
Credence hears Percy inside and the door opens a moment later. He stares down at Credence and Credence looks at him, his heart beating a mile a minute.  
  
“I don’t know if you like frogs,” he says. “But I brought you one.” He hands it to Percy.  
  
Percy takes it like it might be a bomb and frowns at it, then at Credence. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had an opinion about frogs,” he says and it’s with the good humor Credence adores, but he also sounds wary.  
  
Credence hopes he can fix that. “Eliza’s your sister,” he says. “She works in Manhattan and visits you on sets when you’re here.”  
  
Percy’s brow furrows with confusion. “Yes,” he says slowly. “That’s true. Never wanted any part of it herself but she likes seeing the sets and meeting people.”  
  
“I thought she was your wife,” Credence sighs and he wants to look away. It makes him sick to say it, makes his foolishness plain to hear, but he owes it to Percy to at least apologize respectfully.  
  
“My wife,” Percy repeats without any inflection except that his eyebrows are nearly in his hairline. “You thought…” he trails off and sighs, long and slow, like a weight has been lifted off of him. Or like he’s immensely disappointed. “Credence, has that what this has been about?”  
  
“Yes,” Credence mutters, rubbing his arm. “I’m an idiot, you can say it. I assumed too much when I saw you two and Newt said _Mrs._ Graves and I… I was being an idiot, I know, I’m so sorry. I should have talked to you that day.”  
  
Percy stares at Credence for a while and looks a little lost for words. He eventually moves back and gestures Credence inside of his trailer. “Let’s talk inside.”  
  
Credence nods and walks up the steps inside. It’s nearly identical to his own trailer except for some colors but Credence feels like he’s in a forgein place, even for as many times as he’s been in here. He looks at Percy after he’s closed and locked the door.  
  
Percy sits on the sofa and sets the frog down before patting the cushion next to him. “Come on, sit down before you pass out.”  
  
“I’m fine,” Credence mutters, though he is feeling a bit lightheaded. He sits down next to Percy and grips his jeans, squeezing the material in his hands. “Percy, I’m really sorry. I’ve been treating you like shit because I’m a moron. I’m sorry, you deserved better than that.”  
  
Percy rests his arm on the top of the sofa and puts his chin on his hand, gazing at Credence for a while. “What in God’s name gave you the impression she was my wife beyond Newt, who you should know to never trust to know anybody not working for him.”  
  
Credence blushes. “Well, I know that now,” he says. “I don’t know.” He wrinkles his nose. “You kissed her on the forehead and had your arm around her shoulder. I know it’s stupid,” he says hastily when Percy raises his eyebrows. “But it looked like what you’ve done with me. That and the way Newt said Mrs. Graves. My mind filled in all the rest, like it does sometimes.” He sniffs and wipes his nose. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole.”  
  
“Credence,” Percy sighs and shakes his head. “You’re about the most infuriating man I’ve ever met.”  
  
“Sorry,” Credence says with a grimace but he deserves it.  
  
“You were infuriating before I even knew you,” Percy says and Credence looks at him with a frown. “I’ve been watching your work like everyone else. Loved it all. I wanted to meet you and I was… well, I was taken with you before I met you and I considered myself lucky I was going to work with you finally. You were even more infuriating because of… everything about you. I don’t date costars for a variety of reasons but you made me want to forget them all. Infuriating,” he says and smiles wryly. “Infuriating how much I like you. And then something happened and I couldn’t fucking figure it out. I have been infuriated for a week because I didn’t know how I fucked up or how to get you alone to fix it. I think you might have been infuriated for a different reason this past week.”  
  
Credence chews on his lip and stares down at his hands because there are tears in his eyes and he truly doesn’t want to cry in front of Percy. Not for something personal. He sniffs and doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know if what Percy’s saying is good or bad.  
  
He looks at him and shakes his head. “Mine was unfounded, of course,” he says quietly. “Running myself in circles, is what my friend said. Something I try not to do but it’s hard to break the habit.”  
  
“It is,” Percy says. “I’ve got about nine years more practice than you, but I know perfectly well how hard that is.” He sighs. “I do wish you had spoken with me so I could have put your mind at ease. But maybe we can work on that.”  
  
Credence furrows his brow and stares at Percy for a while. “We?” he asks. “Percy, you deserve someone who doesn’t doubt you. Someone who isn’t an idiot.”  
  
“The great thing about being human, Credence,” Percy says, “is that our mistakes are most often fixable and never as bad as they first seem. I learned that eventually and it took a lot of idiocy and a lot of second chances from people I thought deserved better. Turns out things really do work out if you let them.”  
  
Credence definitely doesn’t deserve Percy. Even with what he’s saying now, Credence wants to tell him he’s different. That he’s worse than anyone else and Percy isn’t seeing that.  
  
But that’s been the crux of it, hasn’t it? Credence believed his mother for so long because he was told he was unforgivable unlike anyone else. He hasn’t come out because he’s frightened no one will support him because he’s somehow different. Credence tried for weeks to tell himself that he wasn’t someone Percy was interested in, that he couldn’t be, despite knowing exactly how Percy felt.  
  
He ruined that for a while and he thinks Percy might be a little crazy for giving Credence a second chance, but maybe Percy thought that about the people that give him one too.  
  
Credence looks at Percy and he’s gazing at Credence with a softness that’s been missing since they last sat like this. Percy holds his hand out and Credence takes it, moving closer to him. They embrace and Credence squeezes his eyes shut and rests his head on Percy’s shoulder.  
  
“I’m sorry, Percy,” he whispers. “I really am.”  
  
“It’s alright, love,” Percy says. “Though I am going to ask you to talk to me before assuming the worst and hiding in the bathroom.”  
  
Credence blushes and groans a little. “Can we not talk about it for a while?” he asks. “At least that part.”  
  
Percy chuckles and kisses Credence’s neck. He pulls back and looks at Credence, moving his hand up to brush his hair off of his forehead. “We can talk about all of it later,” he says. “It’s alright, Credence.”  
  
“It isn’t—”  
  
Percy presses his finger over Credence’s lips and laughs when he frowns irritably at him for doing so. “I am the offended party here, let me decide how offended I am,” he says. “Which isn’t a lot. I’d like to kiss you actually.”  
  
Credence sighs when Percy’s hand moves to his cheek. “Well,” he says and smiles, “if that’s what you want to do.”  
  
Percy smiles and slides his hand to the nape of Credence’s neck. He kisses him then, tenderly and sweetly, and Credence wraps his arm around Percy’s neck.  
  
It’s always an easy slide between tender and passionate and doesn’t take long until Credence is straddling Percy’s waist, his hands in Percy’s hair and one of Percy’s hands is under his shirt against his lower back and the other is halfway down the back of his jeans.  
  
Credence supposes they’ve missed each other and have some time to make up for.  
  
He’s going to have to take a cold shower later, which has been the case every time he’s been with Percy because of his own insistence that they go slow and their lack of condoms is probably the only reason _slow_ has happened, if Credence is honest with himself.  
  
But Credence has never wanted anyone more. He's usually shy when it comes to this and it takes him a long time to be comfortable with someone.  
  
He was already comfortable with Percy before he assumed he was a cheating bastard.  
  
When Credence presses closer, he feels that he’s not the only one thinking along those lines. He pulls back, licking his lips and looks at Percy, whose eyes are hooded and dark.  
  
“I would very much like to carry you to the bedroom,” Percy says. “But I might actually break my back.”  
  
Credence laughs and grins, gently tugging at Percy’s hair. “I’ve seen you lift women in your movies to carry into the bedroom,” he says and raises his eyebrows. “You can’t manage me?”  
  
“They were not nearly six feet tall and one-hundred seventy pounds,” Percy says dryly. “I’d love to walk with you there.”  
  
Credence can’t help the way he laughs, the way Percy always makes him laugh and he hugs him and kisses his forehead and sighs and thinks about love.  
  
“Bad things would happen in there,” he says with a smile. “That we’ve been avoiding.”  
  
“I know you want to take it slow and I’m all about that, even when you’re pressing against me like you are,” Percy says and hisses a little when Credence grinds against him. “But I did grab a few things before I picked up Eliza. Just in case.”  
  
Credence raises his eyebrows. “Oh,” he says in surprise. “I guess it’s never bad to be prepared.”  
  
“Lube helps for personal time too,” Percy says with a smirk before he grunts when Credence presses more against him. “Alright, bedroom.”  
  
Credence grins and manages to get off of Percy. They have to undress each other out here, not a whole lot of room in the trailer’s bedroom, but they take it slowly. They take everything slowly and Credence is sure he’s never seen anyone so stunning laid out in bed like Percy is, on his stomach.  
  
He works out, the muscles in his back a fine sight, and his skin is a little more tanned in some areas, golden and beautiful. Credence tells him so, embarrassed, but Percy only smiles and thanks him.  
  
Neither of them have done this in a while, as it turns out, and Credence is terrified of hurting Percy despite the fact that he’s done this before, but he must be doing something right because Percy’s groans and gentle gasps as he works him open and kisses along his back and shoulders are music to his ears.  
  
When Percy tells him he’s ready for the third time, because Credence has been scared and insisted he’s not, he rolls onto his back and watches Credence put a condom on and lube it generously.  
  
It’s so good. So good that Credence thinks it’s never been this good before, not with anyone. Everything about Percy under him is perfect, the way he’s got his knees bent, his ankles behind Credence’s thighs, the way his hands move over every bit of Credence and the way he moans and says _just like that_ when Credence finds a good but unhurried rhythm.  
  
They kiss and Percy’s hand on his back and the other in his hair feels divine. Credence feels safe with Percy, feels something electric under his skin that he’s not sure he’s felt with anyone before. He knows he’s usually loud and tries to keep quiet here because people will hear them, but Percy breathlessly promises it’ll be different soon.  
  
It doesn’t take long when Percy asks for it a little harder, a little faster, and he comes with Credence’s name on his lips and Credence soon follows.  
  
They breathe together, holding each other and Credence wants to tell Percy that he loves him, but it must be too soon for that. He kisses him instead.  
  
This will change things between them but Credence doesn’t mind, because they can only be good changes from here on out.  
  
——  
  
Percy still ends every scene they film together with a great number of different adjectives and they still make Credence roll his eyes. They sit together with lunch and they spend time together just like they did before it all happened.  
  
Credence catches Gellert’s eye one day but he merely winks and presses his finger against his lips, as if to say he won’t be telling anyone, and it puts a blush on Credence’s cheeks.  
  
They go out for drinks with Jacob and manage to not follow each other into one of their trailers so they don’t make it obvious to a hundred people. But they eat dinner together still and watch Netflix, only now there’s a lot of cuddling and kissing, more kissing than Credence is used to and which makes his spin.  
  
There’s also good sex, but it’s going to be even better once they can be in Credence’s apartment.  
  
He asks Percy one night over dinner when they only have a few days left of shooting why he doesn’t want Credence to come to his place, now that he knows Percy doesn’t have a secret family.  
  
Percy laughs as he twirls zucchini noodles around his fork. “Because my place is about the exact opposite of yours, from what you’ve told me. I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable there. When you told me you hated fancy leather sofas, I figured you’d probably hate mine too,” he says and shrugs. “Maybe I assumed too much.”  
  
Credence’s cheeks are hot and he groans a little as he grabs his water and takes a drink. “I was probably rambling about all the things I hate and every one of them was in your place,” he says and sighs when Percy nods wryly, like that’s exactly what happened. “I want to see where you live because you’ll be there. It’ll be hard to hate anything that’s yours.”  
  
Percy smiles. “Well, I am glad to hear that. That’s how I feel about you too,” he says. “Except I don’t hold grudges about hidden television cabinets.”  
  
“Oh my God,” Credence mutters and sighs when Percy chuckles. “That part’s settled then.” He shrugs when Percy raises his eyebrows. “You tend to change the subject or say something you think is witty when I ask about your personal life. Your friends and family.”  
  
“I know everything I say is witty,” Percy says and smiles faintly. “Talking about my family isn’t something I like to do. I do talk about Eliza fairly often, but I suppose I was too busy kissing you to mention her. But my family life was shit and I want to be close to someone before I talk about it. I think you might understand that.”  
  
“Yeah,” Credence says and chews his lips for a moment. “You’re right. It’s a vulnerable thing for someone you’ve only known a few months to know about.”  
  
“Yes,” Percy agrees. “But we’ll get there eventually.”  
  
Credence knows that Percy knows about his scars but he hasn’t asked and he’s been glad for it because it _does_ make him feel vulnerable. He doesn’t want to watch Percy pity him or treat him like he’s delicate. He hasn’t at all, even though he hasn’t asked, just looked at Credence with some sort of understanding before he’d distracted him with a searing kiss.  
  
“I don’t talk about past relationships because some of the people I’ve been with are known names but aren’t out to the general public,” Percy continues. “It feels disrespectful to name names. But none of them have been a disaster when they ended, really, not since I barely had a foot in the door and I’m very lucky they didn’t ruin it all for me then.”  
  
“Oh,” Credence says softly. He hadn’t really thought about it in that way, which makes him feel like more of an idiot. He’s only been with people who aren’t actors but sometimes crew members and nothing that ever lasted for very long. His saving grace, he supposes, is that it means Percy doesn’t know them, especially with only a first name. “I understand that. You’re a good man, Percy.”  
  
Percy looks at Credence and smiles a bit wryly. “You are too, Credence, because I can see you thinking you aren’t,” he says. “Thank you, all the same.”  
  
Credence sighs and thinks Percy can read him too well. But that’s the whole reason they got along so well in the first place, so he can’t complain too much about it.  
  
“What about your friends?”  
  
“I don’t have a lot of friends,” Percy says. “And those that I do tend to be on the snobbier side. You call me a snob eight times a day.”  
  
Credence gapes at Percy. “I’m joking and you know it! Oh my God,” he says again. “You assumed the worst about me too, you know. I want to know everything about you, Percy, and if you’ll have me for a while, I want to meet your friends and spend time at your apartment and I want to get to know Eliza. If that’s what you want too,” he mumbles, looking down at his plate zoodles.  
  
“I told you that’s what I want a while ago. And recently,” Percy says and smiles when Credence looks at him. “I’m sorry, Credence. I do want all of those things, both ways. I didn’t want you to run for the hills while we’re still getting to know each other.”  
  
“Short of having a secret family or being a murderer, I’m not running for the hills,” Credence says and smiles. “I really want to wake up in the morning next to you and drink coffee and spend the day doing nothing but spending time with you.”  
  
“That does sound pretty fucking good, doesn’t it?” Percy asks and chuckles. “We’ll do it, love. Maybe for three months straight.”  
  
Credence laughs. “I’m alright with that,” he says with a smile. He feels his phone buzz and pulls it out, looking at a text and sighing. “I’m never living this down.”  
  
“Eliza?” Percy asks with a smirk.  
  
“She wants to know how her husband is behaving,” Credence mutters. “Can’t believe you gave her my number. She’s just like you.”  
  
Percy laughs. “We only had each other for a long time,” he says. “Of course we’re similar. Though I’m probably just like her.”  
  
Credence smiles. “Big sister, I suppose,” he says and texts Eliza back before turning back to his dinner. “So you’re in England for three months and the press tour is after that. We both have another month off after. We should go somewhere.”  
  
“You want to swim with sea turtles again?”  
  
“You know, that does sound really nice,” Credence says with a grin. “Yes, please.”  
  
Percy nods and pushes around his zoodles. “We’ll do it then. Eat something better than this.”  
  
Credence laughs for a while and grins and tries, desperately tries not to tell Percy he loves him. Everything about him, the little things to the big things. He manages not to for today.  
  
He manages not to even when they finish the shoot in downtown Manhattan and everyone cheers and hugs each other and Newt reminds them to always be prepared, for reshoots or life, who knows, and he manages not to tell Percy the first night they spend together in his apartment.  
  
Even after Percy’s very witty commentary about his thousands of blankets or his hobby of sketching and painting which he neglected to mention, mostly out of the mortifying ordeal of having to show Percy his work.  
  
But Percy seems to like it, smiling as he flips through a few sketch books when they’re sitting with hot cups of coffee on the sofa the next morning, right after breakfast.  
  
Credence manages to not tell Percy he loves him even then. Not until Percy looks at him with soft eyes and a tender smile and says it first.  
  
It’s hard to stop saying it after that, ending the night with an _I love you_ whispered against heated skin _,_ or gently on a phone call when they’re not together. It’s not hard to say it when they’re back in each other’s arms after a long couple of months with a lot of video calls and nothing else.  
  
It turns out that it’s especially easy to say when they choose not to keep it private anymore one day, when they’re both ready, and it only gets more meaningful every year they spend at each other’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> I find myself needing to write a misunderstanding fic now and then. c: Hope you liked it and I'd love to hear from you. Thank you everyone for all your support of my fics, it really means a lot and helps me to keep writing whenever I get such sweet comments in my inbox from all of you.
> 
> Thanks, always and forever, to Erin and Mom. <3
> 
> [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/vtforpedro)


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